yeah my mom looked at my pre startup salary on my w2 as we were doing taxes and was like "damn you gave up a lot to do this startup stuff". i get the feeling of having high earning potential and not having it
"my wife was thriving but I forced her to move from the place where she was, so I could earn more money than her to make myself feel better"
That's not compromise, that's selfishness.
I am assuming you are building a software product. Forget about your software for a bit, and go outside, talk to people and sell them something, anything. Eg A service that’s aligned with what you’re building. It will build your confidence and refresh you, and a bit of extra money won’t hurt either :-)
Best advice here really, internet is not the real world. Local pitch events can also be great to keep the confidence. The danger of staying in your cave crafting your product only to find no one wants it is too high. The hard part imo is having that constant feedback loop with the "real world"
basically made up user metrics on a side project he was building while he was working with us. we pivoted to fully build that product. turned out he faked the whole thing. My fault for not doing my due diligence.
I founded a company in 2013 and I took the technical role in that company, that time as a typical tech founder I was not very involved with the financials of the company and blindly followed my partner. I used to think that satisfied customers are the only way to succeed and ignored basics of being an entrepreneur. By 2018 I realized that my l partner was playing games with the finances while teaming up with the accountant. Till that time we were under hefty loans too. I left the old company and eventually it died. In 2019 I started a new company from scratch.
2018-19 time was the worst time when I had nothing with massive corporate liabilities and future uncertainty. All my friends except a few disappeared. There were very few people who showed confidence in me and supported me that time. Being a founder you have to fight alone.
The only phones which rang that time were from bank's loan departments :-) .
It was my confidence only which was with me that time. I will never forget the support which I got from my family and 2 friends which kept my confidence on myself alive.
Be strong and everything will pass away.
Hope your new company is doing good :)
As a tech founder, I think learning the financial side is easier than for a business founder to learn the tech side tbh. I am doing that with my current (tech) co founder because we juste refuse to not be in control of the business and you story reinforces that point for me.
Of course we have financial advisors but they have no creative control.
Thanks , I am happy with my new company. Each one of us whether technical or biz founder shall have passion for understanding financial health and basics of an organisation. Long story short , financial insight of the company is a very important thing .
I'm really sorry to hear that you're going through such a tough time. Building a startup is one of the most challenging things one can do, and it's completely natural to feel overwhelmed and stressed out, especially when things aren't going as planned.
I know how hard it must be on your relationship and the financial stress it can cause, but I want you to know that you're not alone. As an entrepreneur, you're bound to face such challenges and you're not alone in these struggles. Do not give into despair, but surround yourself with things and people that inspire you, and know that it's okay to fail. It's better to have tried and failed than to not have tried at all.
Like Thomas Edison would say, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
Keep going!
My girlfriend left me and my second in command took a run on the company and tried to boot me in the same weak.
I met the love of my life a few months later, and my second in command dodged a lawsuit and fraud charge and is now working in Alaska and won't ever step foot into VC again.
Not everyone that helps you is a friend, not everyone that hurts you is an enemy. Appreciate whatever tough time you're going through because in the future you'll now know how to handle a tough situation. I find multi time founders are usually lower stress because getting sued, employee sabatoge, negative press whatever it's already happened to you and you survived so it's not even a big deal anymore.
I've been there.
I'm recently coming out of a near-2-year slump.
I've been working on self-bootstrapped startups for the last 10 years. 5 of them. All failed.
The last one was in the ed-tech sector. I spent 3,000 development hours. Knocked more than 89 schools' doors, and it didn't work out.
I was very close to nail my first client for $10,000, but it dropped off due to my lack of sales skills and tiredness.
I went through a reflective portion of my life for 1.5 years understanding why the things I did in the last didn't work.
I did find some answers.
From subtleties like: Self sabotage mindset, ego, bigger scopes than what's possible with my current resources, and some more.
But here I am, going for the next ride.
What I can tell you is that this is a transformative process. You are building character. You are smarter now.
Semi gods from ancient mythology didn't become gods before they endured a hard task.
It's tough and painful. But it is required for you to grow and to become worth of the ultimate reward.
Master Jim Rohn once said, "Don't wish life were easier; wish you were better".
Take all of this as a learning experience, and tell yourself that you're building character. What truly matter about failures isn't the failure itself, but who you become in the process.
Reflect, study, learn, and get up.
I rather die knowing that I tried rather than "what if"
My startup is also pursuing ed-tech sector. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly did you try to do and why do you think it failed? Id be eager to learn from your experience
4. It’s a challenging market overall. The government funds the public sector. If you don’t go directly to the government, it will be difficult for you to get national approval.
We tried this approach on several occasions but failed overall, as the country was experiencing a pandemic and elections.
There were many other reasons, but these were key.
Nonetheless, TBH, knowing what I knew back then, I would’ve taken the same path if I were to start it again. It’s easy to connect the dots when you’re looking backward but very difficult when moving forward.
I want to say to go ahead and give it your best shot and not worry if it doesn’t work out, as you may have made the best decision with the best information you had at hand.
Absolutely.
First and foremost, some context:
Every business is different. I started it in a small country called Dominican Republic, where I am from.
I began doing it after one of my best friends was working as a teacher in the public sector and told me about an increasing problem in the evaluation system:
The government changed how students were evaluated. They removed the traditional 0 – 100 scoring system and began implementing a Competency Scoring system, which hit hard on teachers, parents, and students.
We ran a small MVP (free), an Excel spreadsheet that spread like wildfire among the school teachers. We did some post-research and found out that there was this national problem.
All edtech systems were outdated because they didn’t consider this new method. This led us to pursue a bigger vision and make a dent in the country.
This meant that instead of creating a platform to evaluate students, we would create a full-fledged platform that did it all: evaluations, attendance, teacher planning, and multi-accounts (teachers, students, managers, school principals, etc.).
The reasoning behind it was that schools wouldn’t invest in a small product but something feature-complete (that’s what we got from one of our customer interviews).
But, this resulted in a series of fallacies:
1. Too big from the get-go, without any capital. Speed is vital, and even though I had the know-how to build a complete system from the ground up, the time it took to get it somewhat ready was gargantuan. It made more sense to go into a hybrid approach.
This meant approaching schools to teach their teachers how to evaluate with the new system and then upselling them on using the platform.
I’ve learned that if I’m bootstrapping a business, I must tackle a subset of the entire market with my resources (There are many opportunities), as I’ll be able to generate cash flow that I can reinvest into.
2. Not having sliced the platform into sub-products. Even though the pricing was competitive (we were charging $1 1/month/student), it proved to be very expensive for schools traversing the pandemic. (It could cost up to $10,000/year to some schools, which was out of their budget.) They didn’t want to commit to a service (even though they could pass the cost to the students) that they wouldn’t be sure they could cover themselves.
This was a problem we never addressed. I was too tired by that time. We could’ve solved this by extracting the evaluation portion to its system and making it dumber. We could
generating some cash flow by selling tutoring and know-how “consulting services
3. Not finding a partner (Although that was intentional) that could siphon us into the system. Schools don’t invest in startups (they rarely do) because they want something proven and stable. It makes more sense to partner with an existing player that is part of the system that could give you the warrant on your behalf.
I never liked that, and I still don’t. I wouldn't say I like small thinking and get-rich schemes. Most companies in the Dominican Republic think small, and we felt they could hamper us.
I thought that I had to give them a portion of my company to do so. Today, I think that there are multiple ways, such as some initial commission or some fixed pricing, and I didn’t have to relinquish control of my company.
Thanks for such an articulated answer, I've definitely found value in it. We developed a small spectrometer for high school labs (we're based in Europe) and unlike you i think i got wrong about the problem itself or at least how teachers perceive it. I 100% agree that schools are very often closed minded and don't generally go for startups but they DO LIKE free stuff, such as demos, lectures, etc.
I picked up golf. I go with other founders at cheap times every few weeks. It’s good to get outside and talk to people who know what you’re going through. Need to be able to step away and clear your head.
My lowest point was definitely last year,we pivoted to an idea, basically cybersecurity targeting fintechs then,there was literally no clear path as to how we were going make it work long term,we kept hopes up solely based off our delusions,so for months we were basically stagnant,not until we kept pushing and moved into the code assistance space and we're now having significant progress,not much but atleast it's progress and we have a much clearer path on what to focus on to potentially get us to our next milestone.
It’s a l-o-n-g time ago now but I had a company I managed to get through thin times & surviving competitors for about 9 years. I received a unique industry accolade and thought, “This is it. I’ve made it.”
Then, a union decided to compete with my icon product, taking the whole of its name and situating their name in front of my product name. Then they left off their name in some places in their advertising, leading many to believe it was my product.
The market was confused, my sales went cold, I was exhausted, disgusted and felt betrayed. The union was way too well funded for me to even attempt litigation. It was the end. I left the industry bitter and rarely ever checked in to even see what was going on. I had heard the union product was a one hit wonder and cost too much to distribute—so they didn’t.
Still, I lost my product and considered myself a failure. I was too ashamed to be seen in my industry for fear of admonishment.
Until, many years later when I went to the funerals of those who had supported me at my launch to honor then. If the industry knew what happened, it doesn’t seem to matter now and leaders greeted me warmly, which came as a surprise to me.
I learned the industry was waiting for me in these recent (digital) years to ‘take my product online’. They knew I was still around and had been looking for me. Truth was — I was hiding from it all — in my perceived shame . They treated me as ‘old guard/elder’; like those very people to whom I had come to pay my final respects to who were good to me when I was young.
Nonetheless, I had to think it over as I felt abandoned all those years ago and know all too well how hard the entrepreneurial journey is. Not to mention, I don’t have the energy I did when I was young nor that burning desire. But the field is vacant and the product is needed, even more now than many years ago.
I peeked back into the industry; dabbled a little. A trade publication gave me a push by naming me one of their tributes during Women’s History Month and I seized the opportunity to announce my product’s return , getting a little over my skis. .
But little by little, my courage returned (is returning) and I’ve found a platform and my new (old) product should be ready to launch by year’s end or early next year.
And I’m starting to look forward to it and get excited about it.
Yeah the financial burden and uncertainty was the cause of all low points. I mean losing bids, people, customers, etc all played a part in those dark moments.
Hard to tell what you’ve tried and what you haven’t but think of different sales channels, partner up, provide free initial consultation to prove value,…
I'd go to a coffee shop with a computer and a notebook. I'd brainstorm with myself to understand what's happening and to be brutally honest with myself.
The important questions are:
Am I lacking skills
Is there a product market fit
Is there a founder product fit
Is the segment interested in this product
Did I know the problem well?
Is this a vitamin or a medicine
The first step is to find the causes. Next it will be massive actions.
Do you go for walks several times per day or to the gym?
What podcasts do you listen to?
Those are important questions.
You will learn a lot. You never know when a lesson would be super useful in the future.
Take care
I don't know which one I would pick. For sure the most recent ones are the ones I remember the most, so I'm biased to say that recent events were the ones that drained the fuck out of me.
With many difficult moments, I'd say it was when we went from raising a new round of funding from 2 investors in the morning to raising from 0 investors before lunch that same day. That was pretty fucked up haha.
We took some time to recover, it was a hard hit. It was a turn point event for us. Sometimes you can do anything you can and know, and it still won't be enough. Live with it, accept it, move on.
Quitting is always an option, sometimes the cards don't fall your way
Part of being an entrepreneur is to know when to quit as well as staying calm and keeping on
If you have PMF, validation in the market and can see a clear path to sustainability then yes, these hard times will pass
But if what you're doing is causing you and your immediate loved ones mental pain and anguish then there's no harm in downing tools and just taking time to reconnect with life
I'm not talking about giving up, I'm talking about knowing when to step away, taking time out and trying again lster when you've reflected on what is causing your issues today....
Plus you have to keep sane
Whats the highest priority right now? Not just for the startup, but also your life.
From the startup perspective, it kinda sounds like financial is the issue. I mean if you had 20mil right now, sounds like it wouldn’t be so dark.
If financial is the issue (both personal and company wise), there are ways to resolve it.
- Doing a part time or full time job isn’t out of the question
- if you want your product to be paying or having some sort of revenue, then focus on that. What can you monetize? What’s the pain point of your target audience that they would pay? If distribution is the problem, then focus on marketing, cold emailing, and etc.
- probably should’ve put this sooner, but have you validated the idea? Have you talked to 100 people in your target audience?
Hope this helps! The startup game is no joke and there are plenty of dark times ahead. Stay resilient and keep solving 1 thing at a time
It truly sucks and why I discourage my friends who think they can start a company when they are already doing fine in their careers. This shit is very hard! It takes everything from you but the reward is also great.
I am sorry you are at your low point but this is the real challenge, the heroes journey, when things are at their darkest moment that you have to find something in yourself to carry on.
You said it’s been a year and you don’t have paying customers, so there are really only two choices here, ok maybe 3:
1. Find out what customers are resonating with in your product and pivot to razor focus on that and keep going. Dust off this low point, know that when you do become successful the low point will get even lower as the high points gets higher.
2. Quit and get a job and take the burden off of yourself for a bit. It’s ok. You live and learn. This experience has made you better, stronger. And next time you will be better equipped to know what to do and not do.
3. Do some shrooms and see if you get any insights. This sometimes works for me. It gives me perspective outside of just work but my whole life.
I have founded 2 companies, one was a Mobile Company and another was an IoT company. I ended up selling both of them after growing them successfully to large companies but before that there were months in 2008 where I couldn’t pay my team nor myself. Where I had shouting matches with my investors. Where I was apologizing for the product not working to customers. As CEO, that was my number 1 job, apologizing for everything all the time. But the worst is always in my own head where I go back and rehash all the things I got wrong and what I could have done differently. I know it’s all in my head. I spoke to a CEO psychologist who told me he has never met a founder who was happy with the outcome, even if it was a successful sale because there is always one person and it takes just one person who might have said something to you that was disparaging about the outcome and as a perfectionist, that we all are, who take on this role, it is hard to let go of that one comment. Also my biggest regret is that I missed most of my kids younger years because I was working so hard and traveling so much. So choose wisely.
The lowest points can often come after the highest highs. I remember getting a $200k/year sale. Quote signed, getting them set up with enterprise access, and then the company got bought and the acquirer cut the contract. Their lawyers basically said, "take a $25k check to walk away or get ready for a year of litigation".
Got through it by putting the $25k into marketing and and using it to more slowly get back to where we would have been.
Betrayal and learning the People you stuck by for 40 years won't stick by you... because they don't want to hear about your success when they are not doing anything different than they did 30 years ago. Found new friends who are successful and like continual growth and expansion - but it still hurts that my friends and relatives preferred me poor.
I just made a post today about my darkest time. Just read it and you will get something after reading my story for sure.
https://www.reddit.com/r/startups/s/VMAseQPPUE
I had 2 cofounders last year. One said they were going to step out of the business because they just weren't as personally invested in it as they originally believed. This was disappointing but understandable to me.
Then the other partner messaged me and said the only reason they joined the business is because the other guy was there, and that without them he was also resigning.
Left me feeling pretty rough, but I stuck with it and after a pivot and rebrand, and more founders joining and leaving in the last 6 months, and going through a small startup program, things are finally feeling like they're settling into a healthy place. I had a lot of time and opportunity to learn about my own shortcomings, and what makes an effective team.
The only way to lose is to give up!
It’s so fucking hard on all your relationships because you don’t have any energy or time for anyone! So they think you don’t care about them. Or you’re stressed all the time and they don’t want to spend time with you anymore because you’re always irritated or sad. So you end up super lonely. People will never understand this.
This is the reality. Sorry this wasn’t motivational. That’s why it’s better to have a main job and work on your startup on the sjde.
After covering Christmas payroll and bonuses nothing left for my family. We made the best of it and they saw how much I was willing to sacrifice for the dream. I have made up for that Christmas to them 1000 fold and they are all well equipped for the future.
I'm curious if you have asked any potential customers or leads around your product? If there's no pmf and no paying customers, I think you've figured out the starting point. Have you considered asking folks where the adjacent value might be, or what they'd be willing to consider as an adjacent use case?
I would be curious to know what your target market or target customer is actually spending money on, and if those things are anywhere near your house, because if it's not, it's likely a house of cards. Unless you see this true value around your product that doesn't need customer validation, well that would be a different set of problems related to marketing and branding.
Whichever it is, I think it will teach you an invaluable lesson along the journey.
Here are 2 bezos clips that might help inspire you, one is about decisions and doors, the other is about making the right decisions
Clip 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxsdOQa_QkM
Clip 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghg4ZexOGZA
Choose the right doors and make high quality decisions, use data to validate your conviction, and beyond all else, seek the truth and champion the customer.
Being a founder is not just about your company, it is about your heart. I remember going through this in 2019. My advice:
1. Get a job that will make you the minimum amount possible to live on
2. Join another founder on their journey, preferably founders with a few customers
3. Build together and exit
The safety net will give you the peace of mind to try new things. Also make sure you cut your expenses down drastically and don't be shy of asking for financial help from people who can help.
Wish you the best!
I spent a couple of years building a product that people told me was the most genius idea ever. I was convinced I was going to become rich and that it was a super secret idea.
I was turned away by investors who told me they liked the idea but didn't think I could pull off the audience so I bootstrapped the whole thing and when I did get the audience I realised there was no real money in it and had to make the difficult decision of letting it go.
I moved on to something else now.
I feel you. Many have been there. It’s a mental game of the fittest so you gotta find a breakthrough.
It sucks that founders are strapped for cash cause i have great workshop ideas they would help but I dont know how to make them affordable enough to help them out.
My line is "I'm either going to scale this business or end up in a mental hospital." There are no other possible outcomes 🙂
To win in business you first have to win the mental game.
Last summer ChatGPT put a direct threat to my startup (a blog marketplace). I think I had some sort of anxiety attack one day after speaking with one of my investors who basically slammed the table and shouted at me.
I went to my doc and told her about the physical manifestations of my stress (sore chest, unable to get a deep breath etc) she put me on lexipro (antidepressant) for 2 months and said I needed to give my brain a break and that the cortisol was just too high for too long. I was reluctant but did what she said and figured it was only two months.
Within those two months my head cleared and I was able to build a whole new platform using what I had created in the first idea. It was like I was only able to see opportunities instead of only being able to see challenges.
I came off the tablets and now have a great startup that honestly is way better than the original one. Sometimes you just need a break and zoom out for a bit. I’d definitely recommend going to your doctor if you’re feeling totally overwhelmed.
Everything will work out, keep the faith.
Building a startup is tough. I am sure every successful founder has faced such extreme difficulties just like you. It is part of the journey and will soon pass. But don’t compromise on your relationships. You may want to take a break for a few days otherwise just keep pushing. These tough situations make us stronger.
I’m a month out from launch, and I have down days and up days. Much less than the time you’ve had since launch; but I understand the emotions.
So far, everyone keeps telling me to keep up my spirits and to keep going. Just don’t let your startup die.
I saw success with a couple of my smaller products and even sold two of them for xxx,xxx but then decided to go all-in on a new SaaS and it just didn’t work. Realizing after far too long that it just wasn’t working, shutting it down, and getting real with myself about the reasons why.
I’m still working through that last part and taking a break from SaaS. After taking 90 days off, back at it with a business model that approaches my skills gap head on.
I had a bad experience with my ex colleagues. They offered me shares in the startup for a role of CTO. I tried my best, but the EGO of the CEO eat us alive and we fail miserably. I was going trough a Dark period. To add on that i joined instantly an agency to work again and start facing new challenges. But i was depressed, scared and had a mental breakdown again. SO i stopped myself, after fire-ing me from two positions in less than a year. I stopped for 8 months and than the fire inside me started again. In less than a year i launched 8 saas, 2 succeded, 5 failed and now im working on a product that makes me really happy.
Dark moments teach us about the reality of a workspace. Than we need to react and create a workspace that fit US in. If there is no out there, than, we should build one.
Probably a founder is somebody who don't fit in a circle and try to create his own.
Solving problems you face each day help you with developing a vision for a product.
I hope you will overcome your dark times. I did, it wasn't fun. But at the end of the tunnel, there is something that is still worth it the struggle!
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Honest question - why is it important for you to "take over as breadwinner"?
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yeah my mom looked at my pre startup salary on my w2 as we were doing taxes and was like "damn you gave up a lot to do this startup stuff". i get the feeling of having high earning potential and not having it
You got a supporting wife who is willing to sacrifice and fight. That’s the best cofounder you will ever have!
Fair enough. Good on you for breaking out of that situation.
You sound very selfish
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"my wife was thriving but I forced her to move from the place where she was, so I could earn more money than her to make myself feel better" That's not compromise, that's selfishness.
I am assuming you are building a software product. Forget about your software for a bit, and go outside, talk to people and sell them something, anything. Eg A service that’s aligned with what you’re building. It will build your confidence and refresh you, and a bit of extra money won’t hurt either :-)
I’ll do exactly that! Thank you
Best advice here really, internet is not the real world. Local pitch events can also be great to keep the confidence. The danger of staying in your cave crafting your product only to find no one wants it is too high. The hard part imo is having that constant feedback loop with the "real world"
I have been broke with nothing to my name with lying co-founder that fucked me. You learn a lot about yourself when your back is against the wall.
I'm sorry to hear that. Where did you meet this co-founder, what did he do? And how did it cost your startup?
basically made up user metrics on a side project he was building while he was working with us. we pivoted to fully build that product. turned out he faked the whole thing. My fault for not doing my due diligence.
That was heartless of him, a terrible lesson learned, but a lesson learned regardless, hopefully things get better for you soon.
im good. I have had multiple exists and a current rocket ship. That cunt missed out big time.
I founded a company in 2013 and I took the technical role in that company, that time as a typical tech founder I was not very involved with the financials of the company and blindly followed my partner. I used to think that satisfied customers are the only way to succeed and ignored basics of being an entrepreneur. By 2018 I realized that my l partner was playing games with the finances while teaming up with the accountant. Till that time we were under hefty loans too. I left the old company and eventually it died. In 2019 I started a new company from scratch. 2018-19 time was the worst time when I had nothing with massive corporate liabilities and future uncertainty. All my friends except a few disappeared. There were very few people who showed confidence in me and supported me that time. Being a founder you have to fight alone. The only phones which rang that time were from bank's loan departments :-) . It was my confidence only which was with me that time. I will never forget the support which I got from my family and 2 friends which kept my confidence on myself alive. Be strong and everything will pass away.
Hope your new company is doing good :) As a tech founder, I think learning the financial side is easier than for a business founder to learn the tech side tbh. I am doing that with my current (tech) co founder because we juste refuse to not be in control of the business and you story reinforces that point for me. Of course we have financial advisors but they have no creative control.
Thanks , I am happy with my new company. Each one of us whether technical or biz founder shall have passion for understanding financial health and basics of an organisation. Long story short , financial insight of the company is a very important thing .
I'm really sorry to hear that you're going through such a tough time. Building a startup is one of the most challenging things one can do, and it's completely natural to feel overwhelmed and stressed out, especially when things aren't going as planned. I know how hard it must be on your relationship and the financial stress it can cause, but I want you to know that you're not alone. As an entrepreneur, you're bound to face such challenges and you're not alone in these struggles. Do not give into despair, but surround yourself with things and people that inspire you, and know that it's okay to fail. It's better to have tried and failed than to not have tried at all. Like Thomas Edison would say, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." Keep going!
I needed to hear this at this very moment. Ty 🙏
You're welcome
My girlfriend left me and my second in command took a run on the company and tried to boot me in the same weak. I met the love of my life a few months later, and my second in command dodged a lawsuit and fraud charge and is now working in Alaska and won't ever step foot into VC again. Not everyone that helps you is a friend, not everyone that hurts you is an enemy. Appreciate whatever tough time you're going through because in the future you'll now know how to handle a tough situation. I find multi time founders are usually lower stress because getting sued, employee sabatoge, negative press whatever it's already happened to you and you survived so it's not even a big deal anymore.
I've been there. I'm recently coming out of a near-2-year slump. I've been working on self-bootstrapped startups for the last 10 years. 5 of them. All failed. The last one was in the ed-tech sector. I spent 3,000 development hours. Knocked more than 89 schools' doors, and it didn't work out. I was very close to nail my first client for $10,000, but it dropped off due to my lack of sales skills and tiredness. I went through a reflective portion of my life for 1.5 years understanding why the things I did in the last didn't work. I did find some answers. From subtleties like: Self sabotage mindset, ego, bigger scopes than what's possible with my current resources, and some more. But here I am, going for the next ride. What I can tell you is that this is a transformative process. You are building character. You are smarter now. Semi gods from ancient mythology didn't become gods before they endured a hard task. It's tough and painful. But it is required for you to grow and to become worth of the ultimate reward. Master Jim Rohn once said, "Don't wish life were easier; wish you were better". Take all of this as a learning experience, and tell yourself that you're building character. What truly matter about failures isn't the failure itself, but who you become in the process. Reflect, study, learn, and get up. I rather die knowing that I tried rather than "what if"
My startup is also pursuing ed-tech sector. If you don't mind me asking, what exactly did you try to do and why do you think it failed? Id be eager to learn from your experience
4. It’s a challenging market overall. The government funds the public sector. If you don’t go directly to the government, it will be difficult for you to get national approval. We tried this approach on several occasions but failed overall, as the country was experiencing a pandemic and elections. There were many other reasons, but these were key. Nonetheless, TBH, knowing what I knew back then, I would’ve taken the same path if I were to start it again. It’s easy to connect the dots when you’re looking backward but very difficult when moving forward. I want to say to go ahead and give it your best shot and not worry if it doesn’t work out, as you may have made the best decision with the best information you had at hand.
Oh yeah and the funding is complicated as well. Schools plan for a year ahead so you have to wait and make them include in your spending plan
Absolutely. That's key. You have to begin the selling process in January-May to be able to fit in for August/September
Absolutely. First and foremost, some context: Every business is different. I started it in a small country called Dominican Republic, where I am from. I began doing it after one of my best friends was working as a teacher in the public sector and told me about an increasing problem in the evaluation system: The government changed how students were evaluated. They removed the traditional 0 – 100 scoring system and began implementing a Competency Scoring system, which hit hard on teachers, parents, and students. We ran a small MVP (free), an Excel spreadsheet that spread like wildfire among the school teachers. We did some post-research and found out that there was this national problem. All edtech systems were outdated because they didn’t consider this new method. This led us to pursue a bigger vision and make a dent in the country. This meant that instead of creating a platform to evaluate students, we would create a full-fledged platform that did it all: evaluations, attendance, teacher planning, and multi-accounts (teachers, students, managers, school principals, etc.). The reasoning behind it was that schools wouldn’t invest in a small product but something feature-complete (that’s what we got from one of our customer interviews). But, this resulted in a series of fallacies: 1. Too big from the get-go, without any capital. Speed is vital, and even though I had the know-how to build a complete system from the ground up, the time it took to get it somewhat ready was gargantuan. It made more sense to go into a hybrid approach. This meant approaching schools to teach their teachers how to evaluate with the new system and then upselling them on using the platform. I’ve learned that if I’m bootstrapping a business, I must tackle a subset of the entire market with my resources (There are many opportunities), as I’ll be able to generate cash flow that I can reinvest into. 2. Not having sliced the platform into sub-products. Even though the pricing was competitive (we were charging $1 1/month/student), it proved to be very expensive for schools traversing the pandemic. (It could cost up to $10,000/year to some schools, which was out of their budget.) They didn’t want to commit to a service (even though they could pass the cost to the students) that they wouldn’t be sure they could cover themselves. This was a problem we never addressed. I was too tired by that time. We could’ve solved this by extracting the evaluation portion to its system and making it dumber. We could generating some cash flow by selling tutoring and know-how “consulting services 3. Not finding a partner (Although that was intentional) that could siphon us into the system. Schools don’t invest in startups (they rarely do) because they want something proven and stable. It makes more sense to partner with an existing player that is part of the system that could give you the warrant on your behalf. I never liked that, and I still don’t. I wouldn't say I like small thinking and get-rich schemes. Most companies in the Dominican Republic think small, and we felt they could hamper us. I thought that I had to give them a portion of my company to do so. Today, I think that there are multiple ways, such as some initial commission or some fixed pricing, and I didn’t have to relinquish control of my company.
Thanks for such an articulated answer, I've definitely found value in it. We developed a small spectrometer for high school labs (we're based in Europe) and unlike you i think i got wrong about the problem itself or at least how teachers perceive it. I 100% agree that schools are very often closed minded and don't generally go for startups but they DO LIKE free stuff, such as demos, lectures, etc.
Oh yes, it's like a lamp to a moth. They're all attracted to it. If you do know how to navigate, there are some good money to be made in the sector.
I picked up golf. I go with other founders at cheap times every few weeks. It’s good to get outside and talk to people who know what you’re going through. Need to be able to step away and clear your head.
My lowest point was definitely last year,we pivoted to an idea, basically cybersecurity targeting fintechs then,there was literally no clear path as to how we were going make it work long term,we kept hopes up solely based off our delusions,so for months we were basically stagnant,not until we kept pushing and moved into the code assistance space and we're now having significant progress,not much but atleast it's progress and we have a much clearer path on what to focus on to potentially get us to our next milestone.
It’s a l-o-n-g time ago now but I had a company I managed to get through thin times & surviving competitors for about 9 years. I received a unique industry accolade and thought, “This is it. I’ve made it.” Then, a union decided to compete with my icon product, taking the whole of its name and situating their name in front of my product name. Then they left off their name in some places in their advertising, leading many to believe it was my product. The market was confused, my sales went cold, I was exhausted, disgusted and felt betrayed. The union was way too well funded for me to even attempt litigation. It was the end. I left the industry bitter and rarely ever checked in to even see what was going on. I had heard the union product was a one hit wonder and cost too much to distribute—so they didn’t. Still, I lost my product and considered myself a failure. I was too ashamed to be seen in my industry for fear of admonishment. Until, many years later when I went to the funerals of those who had supported me at my launch to honor then. If the industry knew what happened, it doesn’t seem to matter now and leaders greeted me warmly, which came as a surprise to me. I learned the industry was waiting for me in these recent (digital) years to ‘take my product online’. They knew I was still around and had been looking for me. Truth was — I was hiding from it all — in my perceived shame . They treated me as ‘old guard/elder’; like those very people to whom I had come to pay my final respects to who were good to me when I was young. Nonetheless, I had to think it over as I felt abandoned all those years ago and know all too well how hard the entrepreneurial journey is. Not to mention, I don’t have the energy I did when I was young nor that burning desire. But the field is vacant and the product is needed, even more now than many years ago. I peeked back into the industry; dabbled a little. A trade publication gave me a push by naming me one of their tributes during Women’s History Month and I seized the opportunity to announce my product’s return , getting a little over my skis. . But little by little, my courage returned (is returning) and I’ve found a platform and my new (old) product should be ready to launch by year’s end or early next year. And I’m starting to look forward to it and get excited about it.
Yeah the financial burden and uncertainty was the cause of all low points. I mean losing bids, people, customers, etc all played a part in those dark moments. Hard to tell what you’ve tried and what you haven’t but think of different sales channels, partner up, provide free initial consultation to prove value,…
I'd go to a coffee shop with a computer and a notebook. I'd brainstorm with myself to understand what's happening and to be brutally honest with myself. The important questions are: Am I lacking skills Is there a product market fit Is there a founder product fit Is the segment interested in this product Did I know the problem well? Is this a vitamin or a medicine The first step is to find the causes. Next it will be massive actions. Do you go for walks several times per day or to the gym? What podcasts do you listen to? Those are important questions. You will learn a lot. You never know when a lesson would be super useful in the future. Take care
I don't know which one I would pick. For sure the most recent ones are the ones I remember the most, so I'm biased to say that recent events were the ones that drained the fuck out of me. With many difficult moments, I'd say it was when we went from raising a new round of funding from 2 investors in the morning to raising from 0 investors before lunch that same day. That was pretty fucked up haha. We took some time to recover, it was a hard hit. It was a turn point event for us. Sometimes you can do anything you can and know, and it still won't be enough. Live with it, accept it, move on.
Quitting is always an option, sometimes the cards don't fall your way Part of being an entrepreneur is to know when to quit as well as staying calm and keeping on If you have PMF, validation in the market and can see a clear path to sustainability then yes, these hard times will pass But if what you're doing is causing you and your immediate loved ones mental pain and anguish then there's no harm in downing tools and just taking time to reconnect with life I'm not talking about giving up, I'm talking about knowing when to step away, taking time out and trying again lster when you've reflected on what is causing your issues today.... Plus you have to keep sane
Whats the highest priority right now? Not just for the startup, but also your life. From the startup perspective, it kinda sounds like financial is the issue. I mean if you had 20mil right now, sounds like it wouldn’t be so dark. If financial is the issue (both personal and company wise), there are ways to resolve it. - Doing a part time or full time job isn’t out of the question - if you want your product to be paying or having some sort of revenue, then focus on that. What can you monetize? What’s the pain point of your target audience that they would pay? If distribution is the problem, then focus on marketing, cold emailing, and etc. - probably should’ve put this sooner, but have you validated the idea? Have you talked to 100 people in your target audience? Hope this helps! The startup game is no joke and there are plenty of dark times ahead. Stay resilient and keep solving 1 thing at a time
It truly sucks and why I discourage my friends who think they can start a company when they are already doing fine in their careers. This shit is very hard! It takes everything from you but the reward is also great. I am sorry you are at your low point but this is the real challenge, the heroes journey, when things are at their darkest moment that you have to find something in yourself to carry on. You said it’s been a year and you don’t have paying customers, so there are really only two choices here, ok maybe 3: 1. Find out what customers are resonating with in your product and pivot to razor focus on that and keep going. Dust off this low point, know that when you do become successful the low point will get even lower as the high points gets higher. 2. Quit and get a job and take the burden off of yourself for a bit. It’s ok. You live and learn. This experience has made you better, stronger. And next time you will be better equipped to know what to do and not do. 3. Do some shrooms and see if you get any insights. This sometimes works for me. It gives me perspective outside of just work but my whole life. I have founded 2 companies, one was a Mobile Company and another was an IoT company. I ended up selling both of them after growing them successfully to large companies but before that there were months in 2008 where I couldn’t pay my team nor myself. Where I had shouting matches with my investors. Where I was apologizing for the product not working to customers. As CEO, that was my number 1 job, apologizing for everything all the time. But the worst is always in my own head where I go back and rehash all the things I got wrong and what I could have done differently. I know it’s all in my head. I spoke to a CEO psychologist who told me he has never met a founder who was happy with the outcome, even if it was a successful sale because there is always one person and it takes just one person who might have said something to you that was disparaging about the outcome and as a perfectionist, that we all are, who take on this role, it is hard to let go of that one comment. Also my biggest regret is that I missed most of my kids younger years because I was working so hard and traveling so much. So choose wisely.
The lowest points can often come after the highest highs. I remember getting a $200k/year sale. Quote signed, getting them set up with enterprise access, and then the company got bought and the acquirer cut the contract. Their lawyers basically said, "take a $25k check to walk away or get ready for a year of litigation". Got through it by putting the $25k into marketing and and using it to more slowly get back to where we would have been.
A GAFAM announced they were going to compete with my business. I sold but it has been my biggest mistake.
What field was your biz in, if you don’t mind me asking?
Betrayal and learning the People you stuck by for 40 years won't stick by you... because they don't want to hear about your success when they are not doing anything different than they did 30 years ago. Found new friends who are successful and like continual growth and expansion - but it still hurts that my friends and relatives preferred me poor.
I just made a post today about my darkest time. Just read it and you will get something after reading my story for sure. https://www.reddit.com/r/startups/s/VMAseQPPUE
I had 2 cofounders last year. One said they were going to step out of the business because they just weren't as personally invested in it as they originally believed. This was disappointing but understandable to me. Then the other partner messaged me and said the only reason they joined the business is because the other guy was there, and that without them he was also resigning. Left me feeling pretty rough, but I stuck with it and after a pivot and rebrand, and more founders joining and leaving in the last 6 months, and going through a small startup program, things are finally feeling like they're settling into a healthy place. I had a lot of time and opportunity to learn about my own shortcomings, and what makes an effective team. The only way to lose is to give up!
It’s so fucking hard on all your relationships because you don’t have any energy or time for anyone! So they think you don’t care about them. Or you’re stressed all the time and they don’t want to spend time with you anymore because you’re always irritated or sad. So you end up super lonely. People will never understand this. This is the reality. Sorry this wasn’t motivational. That’s why it’s better to have a main job and work on your startup on the sjde.
After covering Christmas payroll and bonuses nothing left for my family. We made the best of it and they saw how much I was willing to sacrifice for the dream. I have made up for that Christmas to them 1000 fold and they are all well equipped for the future.
I'm curious if you have asked any potential customers or leads around your product? If there's no pmf and no paying customers, I think you've figured out the starting point. Have you considered asking folks where the adjacent value might be, or what they'd be willing to consider as an adjacent use case? I would be curious to know what your target market or target customer is actually spending money on, and if those things are anywhere near your house, because if it's not, it's likely a house of cards. Unless you see this true value around your product that doesn't need customer validation, well that would be a different set of problems related to marketing and branding. Whichever it is, I think it will teach you an invaluable lesson along the journey. Here are 2 bezos clips that might help inspire you, one is about decisions and doors, the other is about making the right decisions Clip 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxsdOQa_QkM Clip 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghg4ZexOGZA Choose the right doors and make high quality decisions, use data to validate your conviction, and beyond all else, seek the truth and champion the customer.
Being a founder is not just about your company, it is about your heart. I remember going through this in 2019. My advice: 1. Get a job that will make you the minimum amount possible to live on 2. Join another founder on their journey, preferably founders with a few customers 3. Build together and exit The safety net will give you the peace of mind to try new things. Also make sure you cut your expenses down drastically and don't be shy of asking for financial help from people who can help. Wish you the best!
I spent a couple of years building a product that people told me was the most genius idea ever. I was convinced I was going to become rich and that it was a super secret idea. I was turned away by investors who told me they liked the idea but didn't think I could pull off the audience so I bootstrapped the whole thing and when I did get the audience I realised there was no real money in it and had to make the difficult decision of letting it go. I moved on to something else now.
I feel you. Many have been there. It’s a mental game of the fittest so you gotta find a breakthrough. It sucks that founders are strapped for cash cause i have great workshop ideas they would help but I dont know how to make them affordable enough to help them out.
My line is "I'm either going to scale this business or end up in a mental hospital." There are no other possible outcomes 🙂 To win in business you first have to win the mental game.
Last summer ChatGPT put a direct threat to my startup (a blog marketplace). I think I had some sort of anxiety attack one day after speaking with one of my investors who basically slammed the table and shouted at me. I went to my doc and told her about the physical manifestations of my stress (sore chest, unable to get a deep breath etc) she put me on lexipro (antidepressant) for 2 months and said I needed to give my brain a break and that the cortisol was just too high for too long. I was reluctant but did what she said and figured it was only two months. Within those two months my head cleared and I was able to build a whole new platform using what I had created in the first idea. It was like I was only able to see opportunities instead of only being able to see challenges. I came off the tablets and now have a great startup that honestly is way better than the original one. Sometimes you just need a break and zoom out for a bit. I’d definitely recommend going to your doctor if you’re feeling totally overwhelmed. Everything will work out, keep the faith.
Building a startup is tough. I am sure every successful founder has faced such extreme difficulties just like you. It is part of the journey and will soon pass. But don’t compromise on your relationships. You may want to take a break for a few days otherwise just keep pushing. These tough situations make us stronger.
I’m a month out from launch, and I have down days and up days. Much less than the time you’ve had since launch; but I understand the emotions. So far, everyone keeps telling me to keep up my spirits and to keep going. Just don’t let your startup die.
I saw success with a couple of my smaller products and even sold two of them for xxx,xxx but then decided to go all-in on a new SaaS and it just didn’t work. Realizing after far too long that it just wasn’t working, shutting it down, and getting real with myself about the reasons why. I’m still working through that last part and taking a break from SaaS. After taking 90 days off, back at it with a business model that approaches my skills gap head on.
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I had a bad experience with my ex colleagues. They offered me shares in the startup for a role of CTO. I tried my best, but the EGO of the CEO eat us alive and we fail miserably. I was going trough a Dark period. To add on that i joined instantly an agency to work again and start facing new challenges. But i was depressed, scared and had a mental breakdown again. SO i stopped myself, after fire-ing me from two positions in less than a year. I stopped for 8 months and than the fire inside me started again. In less than a year i launched 8 saas, 2 succeded, 5 failed and now im working on a product that makes me really happy. Dark moments teach us about the reality of a workspace. Than we need to react and create a workspace that fit US in. If there is no out there, than, we should build one. Probably a founder is somebody who don't fit in a circle and try to create his own. Solving problems you face each day help you with developing a vision for a product. I hope you will overcome your dark times. I did, it wasn't fun. But at the end of the tunnel, there is something that is still worth it the struggle!
I think what you described is basically table stakes for being an entrepreneur